Geeesthouse cowstbuctioh



P. L. McKEE. GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12. 1921.

Patanted Oct. 311, 11922 lv @s Patented @ct. Bl, i922.

PHILIP L. IVICKEE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed September To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PHILIP L. Molina, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented, a certain new and useful. Improvement in Greenhouse Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to greenhouses, es pecially the roof construction, and the object of the invention is to improve the construction at the ridge pole or peak of the roof. For practical reasons wood is usually the material chiefly employed in the framework of greenhouses, and while the advantages of wood more than counterbalance the disadvantages, nevertheless one of the disadvantages is that in greenhouses it is rather difficult to prevent leakage, especially where the rafters approach the peak of the roof. Furthermore, leakage promotes decay. My purpose is to avoid these objec tions and to provide a construction which will be just as water tight as if metal joints were employed and much more durable than the ordinary wood construction. Another object is to increase the strength and rigidity of the structure and to render these things capable of accomplishment notwithstanding the use of machine-made and quantity-produced members. With respect to this latter characteristic it will be understood that according to modern practice the component parts of greenhouses are manufaetured in factories, in quantities, and by the aid of woodworking machinery, and these facts must be taken into consideration in. practical greenhouse design. One of the objects of my invention is to accomplish the first mentioned purposes in accordance with a design which lends itself to factory production.

I obtain my objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings in Which- Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a greenhouse at the peak showing, in assembly, the cooperative relation of parts made in accordance with my design.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2-2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a distributive perspective view showing the ridge pole cap, the two part ridge pole, and the portion of a rafter forming part of the joint.

Figure t is a diagranunatic view illustrat- 12, 1921. Serial No. 500,257.

ing one of the principles of the invention, viz, the manner of bringing the rafters into abutting engagement and the concaving so to speak, of the ridge pole to take the peak ends of the rafters.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

The rafters l slope upward toward the peak of the building in the usual manner, and while the cross sectional outline of the rafter may be varied, l have illustrated one of well known design. According to my invention I continue the rafters up until. they meet each other, the abutting ends being beveled at such angle as is required for the predetermined slope of the roof. This characteristic alone, that is, the fact that the rafters abut each other instead of an intervening element, makes for rigidity and firmness.

In my structure the element which may be regarded as the ridge pole is composite and consists of two sections 3 and l covered by a cap 5. These sections have slots 6 and 7 respectively cut in the under side to accommodate the upper end of the rafters on which they seat. In other words, the parts 3 and 4: are obliquely slotted on the under side at such intervals as called for by the spacing of the rafters. The slots have slanting bottom surfaces so as to make an actual fit with the rafter beneath. Sections 3 and 4 are fastened together surface to surface, the contacting surfaces lying in the same plane as the abutting surfaces of the rafters. The parts are fastened together by brackets 10 best shown in Figures 1 and i These brackets, in the form here illu t ated, contact the sides of the rafters and the bottom of the ridge pole ione 3. Qrdinarily the brackets are bolt d "to the rafters and nailed or screwed to the ridge pole sections, which makes not only a most rigid. but also a very simple construction.

The sections 3, 4t of the ridge pole are also held together by the cap 5, previously men tioned, which by preference has tongues 12 fitting into correwonding grooves 14:. Thus the cap forms, as it were. a clip for holding the two sections of the ridge pole together. Another very important function performed by the cap is the shedding of water from the meeting surfaces of the ridge pole sections. in fact, in the best design, here illustrated, the cap projects considerably beyond the sides of the ridge pole sections, possessing flanges which shed water from the outer surfaces thereof and the up per ends of the sash frames 16. Said sash frames are connected by hinges 17 to the ridge pole cap and their upper edges extend up under the flanges of the cap as illustrated in Figure 1. The consequence is that even when the sash is raised somewhat, for ventilating purposes, rain water falling upon the ridge cap is carried over onto the sash frame far enough to prevent leakage down into the greenhouse.

The functioning of the various elements will be readily understood from the foregoing description. Due to the presence of the ridge cap, water is deflected entirely from r the two sections 3 and 4; of the ridge pole.

ilso, as the result of the cooperation and holding effect of the ridge cap and the bracle ets 10, the two sections of the ridge pole will be rigidily held together and will virtually act as a single piece. As the ridge pole sections are slotted and the rafters are inserted into the slots, the rafters are held against movement in any and every direction. An important consideration in my structure is the fact that it lends itself to quantity production. Generally speaking, it is not practical to attempt to produce a pocket or chamber by ordinary woodworking machinery. It is necessary for the cut to go straight through. By forming the ridge pole in two sections it becomes possible to cut the slots 6, 'i by ordinary woodworking machinery; and by assembling the two sections in the manner illustrated, the slots form a pocket or chamber for receiving the peak ends of the rafters. It might be said that the rafters are mortised into the ridge pole, an effect which could not be readily produced from the woodworking machinery commonly employed in greenhouse factories. The principle is illustrated digrammatically in Figure 4 in which the rafters project into a pocket or mortise formed in the under side of the lement A which typifies the two sections 3 and 4 of the ridge bolt. This construction, in which. the ridge pole is of a single piece, would not be practicable, but the same effect is gained as a result of the expedient which I have employed and. above described.

Having thus describedmy invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a greenhouse roof, the combination of rafters extending obliquely upward toward the peak and beveled so as to abut, end to end, and a ridge pole formed in two parts individually slotted on the under side to seat upon the individual rafters, and

means for securing said two parts together, whereby the slots form a pocket in the underside of the composite ridge pole for receiving the peak ends of the rafters.

2. In a greenhouse roof, the combination of rafters abutting end to end at the peak of the roof, a ridge pole formed in two sections and having slots on their under side extending obliquely upward toward the median plane of the roof, said sections seating upon the rafters, and a cap overlying said sections for shedding water from the plane of juncture of the sections of the rafters beneath.

3. In a greenhouse roof, the combination of rafters abutting end to end at the peak of the roof, a ridge pole formed in two sec tions and having slots on their under side extending obliquely upward toward the median plane of the roof, said sections seating upon the rafters, and a wooden cap extending lengthwise of the ridge pole and projecting beyond the sides of the ridge pole for completely shedding water therefrom.

41. A greenhouse roof having a ridge pole cap, a ridge pole beneath the cap formed in two sections parting on the median plane of the building, said sections being individuall 1 and obliquely slotted on the under side to thereby form a hollow chamber when the two sections are assembled, and rafters projecting up into said chamber and abutting end to end.

5. ii. greenhouse having a ridge pole formed in two sections parting on the median plane of the building, said sections being individually and obliquely slotted on the under side to thereby form a chambered recess when the two sections are assembled rafters projecting up into said recess and abutting end to end, and a ridge pole cap extending lengthwise of the ridge pole and projecting beyond the sides of the ridge pole and having a tongue and groove connection with each of the ridge pole sections for holding them closely together.

6. In a greenhouse, the combination of rafters slanting upward toward the ridge pole and abutting end to end, a ridge pole formed in two parts having oblique slots on. the under side adapted to lit the rafters, the sections parting on the median plane of the building, and the slots forming a chambered recess on the under side of the ridge pole, sash overlying the rafters, and a ridge cap overlying the ridge pole sections and hinged to the sash and projecting over the adjacent margin of the sash.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

PHILIP L. MOKEE. 

